I cover sports media, business, and betting for Forbes, often using data. Previously, my work has appeared in FiveThirtyEight, The Atlantic, Deadspin, Slate, and Bloomberg, and I've been a guest on NPR and SiriusXM. I also blog about sports innovations at Lower the Mound. I'm a recent graduate of Columbia University and now reside in Dallas.

These Fantastic Tables Tell You All Possible World Cup Group Outcomes

With 27 of 32 World Cup teams still in contention heading into the final slate of group play games, this week in Brazil should be a wild affair, with just about every combination of teams advancing to the knock-out round still up in the air.

All of the group permutations can get a bit confusing to juggle, especially with the final games in each group being played simultaneously, a necessary measure to prevent collusion. American fans face a particularly confusing Thursday, with a win or draw against Germany advancing them through the group, but a loss leaving a multitude of possibilities which depend on the margin of loss, the total goals scored, and the outcome of the Ghana-Portugal match.

Amidst all this confusion, Reddit user Matador09 has put all of these possible scenarios into eight neat tables.

Here’s the table for Group G:

To read the charts, simply find the outcome of one game on one axis and match it with the outcome of the other game on the other axis. That intersection is color-coded with that group outcome that combination of game results produces.

Of particular interest are the tables for Group A (Brazil, Mexico, Croatia, and Cameroon) and Group G (USA, Germany, Ghana, and Portugal), as each has eight and seven different outcomes respectively. Those two groups, along with Group C (Colombia, Japan, Greece, Côte d’Ivoire) and Group F (Argentina, Nigeria, Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina) also have the potential for an outcome that produces a “drawing of lots,” the final tiebreaker to decide which teams advance.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.